I've just got back from five days in Le Marais, and I've decided I want become Parisian, s'il vous plait.

[TossDaily]

So there.

EVERYBODY looked fantastic. EVERYBODY. DP and I just sat open-mouthed in fascination. Whatever their age, they looked amazing.

So I'm sitting here on a diet, wearing an Isabel Marant jumper and frantically googling 'How to turn French.'

As far as I can tell, the rules are:

1. Be thin, despite the fact you are walking down the street at 11am gnawing a cheese and ham baguette the length of your forearm.

1. Have your hair the colour and texture of natural hair.

1. Have the most amazing skin, despite the fact you have a permanent Gauloise on the go.

1. Never get pissed and lairy, despite the fact you are having a glass of red wine with your lunch and it's Tuesday.

1. Wear shoes you can walk in.

1. Have an amazing coat.

1. Know how to tie a scarf so it looks like you have slung it on and it's just choosing to snuggle up to you because you are SO FRICKING GORGEOUS.

1. Have a pharmacy on every corner that is just an Aladdin's Cave of miraculous skincare delights for less than a tenner each.

Anyone else have any tips? Joking aside, I loved the style - the shops, ohmigod the shops! It was like I'd walked into my internet shopping history.

I could actually walk around in my biker jacket without feeling like a twat.

I want to be French. Aidez-moi.

God yes I love the Christophe Lemaire Uniqlo range. I've been stalking it for returns ever since I missed the autumn launch and I'm waiting in this morning for the latest delivery. (And why didn't they send me that code - grrr)

And thank you for that Joanna Walsh link - how come I'd never heard of her before?? Now there's a blog I would read, if she wrote one.

Sorry the blog reference is another thread, isn't it

Flo her blog is wixsite.com/joannawalsh

She doesn't blog about fashion specifically but it comes up in her writing incidentally. She also campaigns on issues like having more women in translation and the ageism of the "under 40" literary prizes. Cool woman.

Sorry, Flo, to clarify that Lemaire link is for the 'proper' Lemaire range not the one at Uniqlo.

The casual racism and generalisations on this thread are appalling.

Thanks cuir I'm not on the ball this morning am I - only just twigged that link was to a blog, albeit an old one. I think I may just have found myself a new crush!

I daren't open the 'real' Lemaire link bo

I also loved Uniqlo's Lemaire range.

I'm loving the advice and suggestions. Trying to take more care of myself and remember that I'm worth spending money on too - not that it's about money, it's about enjoying what I'm wearing.

Going to buy the Dior 999 lipstick tomorrow - and work out and write down which of the Chanel lipsticks it was that I liked.

I've bought two red lipsticks in the past two days from proper make up counters. Both make me look ridiculous. Can anyone recommend a brand with proper make up artists who will help me find the right shade?

I think Margery must be reading a different thread

I think Margery posted on the wrong thread too.

I love this thread and it’s helped me get my groove on. I’ve recently bought the Chanel special edition Christmas lipstick. It seems to be a true red with neither orange or blue undertones. It’s lovely on and seems to have whitened my teeth by several shades too. It’s the kind of lipstick that would make me feel put together even if I was just in white shirt and jeans.

Where did you go mrs? I find Chanel and Laura Mercier usually train their staff well. Dior are always friendly but staff can be clueless. Bobbi Brown is good but personally I don't like their lipsticks (too creamy). A brand with Tom Ford's price point really should train their staff better but they're lucky that broadly a lot of their colours are universally flattering.

Speaking of lipsticks, I was in Kiko yesterday and reminded that they do really good lipsticks. Although I prefer them for pinks rather than reds. The velvet passion ones and the ones in similar packaging are the ones to go for, the cheapest ones are best avoided. They have a few that are very close in colour to one of my all-time favourite lipsticks for Spring/Summer from Dior, the 414 St Germain (even better with a lip pencil a shade darker). I really rate Kiko as a lower price point brand, even the staff is quite well trained and you can easily try everything. The only issue I have with them is that you really do need to toss their stuff as they go bad when I've got Chanel things well over ten years old that still go on the same as the day I bought them.

I went to Clinique yesterday and the colour is much too brown in natural light. I've had a lot of their lipsticks over the years but got it wrong this time. Today I bought from Laura Mercier in a department store. The assistant was helpful, I had taken a photo of Helen Mirren wearing the exact colour I wanted. What she sold me is a true copy but just not right on me. I need someone to try a few on me at a counter. I can get to big stores but don't want to go to every stand. I always see makeup assistants at Mac but they're always busy and I'm certainly not a teenager. I'd love to find 'my' red but it's a costly business.

The advice that Botemp reminded me of was to try the lipsticks put on the tips of your fingers, rather than the back of your hand, to get a truer reflection of what it would look like on your lips.

I agree about needing to see it in natural light as well. Fortunately both the Dior and Chanel counters are right beside the door in my local House of Fraser

I did the lipstick finder that was linked to earlier in the thread and that’s what lead me to a Chanel counter. But the recommended one was way too orange for me and it had a gold sheen through it too.

I asked the assistant for a red that wasn’t too orange or too pink or too matt or too drying. That was at the Chanel counter in John Lewis Kingston.

I started a very similar thread to this a couple of summers ago whilst I was sitting on a cruise boat docked at Lyon. I was watching all the swish french women pass by. The British tourists stood out like sore thumbs.
MN massive told me not to be so shallow and that it was untrue that the french were swish.

That's a shame proper, mumsnet is very fickle. It depends who catches on to a thread and is prepared to take it in the spirit it's meant. Of course not all French women are chic just as not all British women dress like a bag of spanners. But we know what we mean by Parisian style, it famous. I couldn't tell you what Dutch style is, or Swiss or Portuguese but anyone who's been lucky enough to linger a while in Paris and has a vague interest in clothes and style will have found plenty to swoon over. There's nothing wrong with that, it doesn't mean we are all shallow or bad people.

It’s absolute untruely that all French women are swish, just as some British women are achingly chic.

However you can generally tell Brits abroad and it’s not necessarily their Celtic colouring - it’s more the crumpled linen, big florals, sludgy colours, and the men’s propensity to very short hair, t-shirts jeans and trainers.

And yes of course there’s a Parisian style, it’s quite hard work though.

I'm dithering about the fur stole. I don't look like that model. I don't think we are the same species ! I suspect if I bought it I would look like I had killed next door's dog and was carrying it round.

Has anyone bought it yet?
I really really should step well away from this thread.

ProperLavs
I have bought the stole, and wore it to work yesterday. I too look nothing like the model in the ad. I have silvery hair, very pale skin, and I think it would particularly suit someone with cool colouring. The stole almost has a slight lilac tone to it, it is not a "warm" grey (hope I am making sense!).
It is sumptuous and large for stole, and is a perfect alternative to a jacket or even a coat. I wore it yesterday over a navy blue Max Mara collarless swing coat, with a grey handbag and navy trousers/boots. My colleagues approved, that's all I can say. And I was offered a seat on the tube on both trips (but that may well have been because I an old bat nowadays...)

My parents live in France and my mum always says there's French women and Parisian women. My parents have just gone back, I've had quite a few espressos today and have lots of french cheese, dark chocolate and some champagne in the kitchen, does that count? . I am wearing a black, long sleeved top and a black, long, mohair cardi that are french today. However, I have mostly been going for the Scandi look in furry, suede boots and parka as it was below freezing this morning!

gonegrey sounds lovely but I can't justify it, I already have 3 furry stoles on last count . I, too, have silvery hair and am pale, so I know what you mean by cool colouring.

Gonegrey that does sound tres chic!

I have dark brown hair which has henna in it. I wonder whether the stole would suite my colouring?

I wore my as red as I actually own lipstick today again, and felt v chic. I could get into this lipstick thing (I never used to wear it).

Can anyone recommend a good, moisturising lipstick, in a shade of red suitable for a pasty redhead? Preferably also not too expensive? I find lipstick normally dries my lips out horribly, which is why I like the Clinique chubby stick - it’s more a lip balm with lots of pigment. I’ve tried to buy red lipstick befote, but I’ve never found the right shade...

Gonegrey That sounds like a tres swish look!